5-Aminolevulinic Acid-A Biomarker for Worse Prognosis in IDH-Wildtype II Tumors? Evolution of a Fluorescence-Positive Diffuse Astrocytoma: A Case Report
- PMID: 36032798
- PMCID: PMC9411034
- DOI: 10.1055/a-1858-7628
5-Aminolevulinic Acid-A Biomarker for Worse Prognosis in IDH-Wildtype II Tumors? Evolution of a Fluorescence-Positive Diffuse Astrocytoma: A Case Report
Abstract
Introduction In 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) as an intraoperative optical imaging agent in patients with suspected high-grade gliomas (HGGs). However, the application of 5-ALA for low-grade gliomas is still less accepted. Astrocytoma, isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutant tumors are diffuse infiltrating astrocytic tumors where there is no identifiable border between the tumor and normal brain tissue, even though the borders may appear relatively well-marginated on imaging. Generally, it is considered that 5-ALA cannot pass through a normal blood-brain barrier (BBB). Thus, 5-ALA fluorescence may mean disruption of BBB in grade II glioma. Case Report A 74-year-old male patient was diagnosed with a right parietal lesion suggestive of a low-grade brain tumor in a surgical resection using 5-ALA, which led to the detection of tiny fluorescence spots during the surgery. The frozen section was consistent with diffuse astrocytoma, IDH-wildtype (World Health Organization [WHO] grade II). The patient's postoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed complete resection. Eight months after surgery, he began experiencing symptoms again and was admitted with a brain MRI finding consistent with recurrent infiltrating astrocytomas. This required reoperation of the brain tumor resection with 5-ALA. Unlike the first surgery, they observed a high fluorescence intensity; the pathological finding was glioblastoma, IDH-wildtype (WHO grade IV). Postsurgical brain MRI showed total resection of the tumor. The patient was discharged 4 weeks after surgery and continued with specialized clinical follow-up. Conclusion The use of 5-ALA continues to be a great contributor to the improvement in complete resection of primary brain tumors, especially HGG. Besides, fluorescence is increasingly approaching its use as a prognostic tool for aggressive clinical course, regardless of the initial grade of the tumor. This case report is an effort to expand knowledge for potentially using 5-ALA to help prognosticate brain tumors. Nevertheless, more clinical prospective studies must be conducted.
Keywords: 5-ALA; brain tumor; diffuse astrocytoma.
The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ).
Conflict of interest statement
Conflict of Interest None.
Figures
Similar articles
-
A prospective Phase II clinical trial of 5-aminolevulinic acid to assess the correlation of intraoperative fluorescence intensity and degree of histologic cellularity during resection of high-grade gliomas.J Neurosurg. 2016 May;124(5):1300-9. doi: 10.3171/2015.5.JNS1577. Epub 2015 Nov 6. J Neurosurg. 2016. PMID: 26544781 Clinical Trial.
-
Finding the anaplastic focus in diffuse gliomas: the value of Gd-DTPA enhanced MRI, FET-PET, and intraoperative, ALA-derived tissue fluorescence.Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 2011 Sep;113(7):541-7. doi: 10.1016/j.clineuro.2011.03.008. Epub 2011 Apr 20. Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 2011. PMID: 21507562
-
Diffuse astrocytic glioma, IDH-Wildtype, with molecular features of glioblastoma, WHO grade IV: A single-institution case series and review.J Neurooncol. 2021 Mar;152(1):89-98. doi: 10.1007/s11060-020-03677-4. Epub 2021 Jan 3. J Neurooncol. 2021. PMID: 33389563 Review.
-
Impact of the combination of 5-aminolevulinic acid-induced fluorescence with intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging-guided surgery for glioma.World Neurosurg. 2011 Jul-Aug;76(1-2):120-7. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2011.02.005. World Neurosurg. 2011. PMID: 21839963
-
Intraoperative 5-ALA fluorescence-guided resection of high-grade glioma leads to greater extent of resection with better outcomes: a systematic review.J Neurooncol. 2022 Jan;156(2):233-256. doi: 10.1007/s11060-021-03901-9. Epub 2022 Jan 6. J Neurooncol. 2022. PMID: 34989964 Review.
Cited by
-
Efficacy and Cognitive Outcomes of Gamma Knife Radiosurgery in Glioblastoma Management for Elderly Patients.J Pers Med. 2024 Oct 10;14(10):1049. doi: 10.3390/jpm14101049. J Pers Med. 2024. PMID: 39452556 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Brat D, Reuss D, Deimling A, Huse J R.Astrocytoma, IDH-mutant. In: WHO Classification of Tumours Editorial Board. Central Nervous System Tumours. Lyon (France): International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2021(WHO Classification of Tumours Series, 5th ed.; vol. 6).https://publications.iarc.fr/601
-
- Louis D N, Perry A, Reifenberger G. The 2016 World Health Organization Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System: a summary. Acta Neuropathol. 2016;131(06):803–820. - PubMed
-
- Hasselblatt M, Jaber M, Reuss D. Diffuse astrocytoma, IDH-wildtype: a dissolving diagnosis. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2018;77(06):422–425. - PubMed
-
- Reuss D E, Kratz A, Sahm F. Adult IDH wild type astrocytomas biologically and clinically resolve into other tumor entities. Acta Neuropathol. 2015;130(03):407–417. - PubMed
Publication types
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources